Google Drive is here, and you can install it right now

Google Drive can be downloaded and installed right now, finally giving Google …

After years of speculation, Google Drive was released today, giving users 5GB of free storage to sync across computers, and finally giving Google a viable competitor to Dropbox, Microsoft's SkyDrive, Apple's iCloud, and the like.

Google announced the new service today and it's available at drive.google.com. Like Dropbox, it makes a special folder in your computer's file system, and any file put in the folder will sync across devices. It's available for Windows, Macs, and Android. Google said it's "working hard" on a Drive app for iOS devices.

On the Web, numerous third-party vendors have already integrated Chrome apps with Google Drive, and Drive has a browser-based file manager as well as integration with Google Docs to display any documents that Docs is compatible with.

As mentioned, each user gets 5GB of free storage, compared to Dropbox's 2GB, SkyDrive's 7GB, and iCloud's 5GB. An upgrade to 25GB is $2.49 per month, 100GB is $4.99 per month, and a full terabyte is available for $49.99 a month. The options actually go all the way to 16TB for $799.99 a month. Any paid account also upgrades Gmail storage to 25GB.

File size limits is something we're sure Ars readers want to know about. Google tells us the individual file size limit is 10GB. Just to test it out, I've copied a 4GB file to my local Google Drive folder. It copied to the local folder fine, but after ten minutes it's still syncing and hasn't yet appeared in the Web-based Drive interface. UPDATE: The 4GB file failed to upload and Google Drive has stopped trying to sync the file, saying "an unknown issue has occurred." We'll try again later to see if it's just an early-adopter hiccup. If you're wondering, the file is a virtual disk image for running Fedora in VirtualBox, which I picked solely for its size.

The Google Drive installation process works the same on Windows and Mac. Once you've installed the 68MB application, you'll go through a few screens to set Drive up on your computer:

Yes, sending usage statistics is turned off by default.

There are just a few setup screens. You can click through in seconds, or take a moment to look at the advanced setup options:

If you use Google Docs, the Web-based file manager will look familiar:

Drive's Web-based interface in Google Chrome

Setting up Google Drive is very easy. I haven't encountered any hiccups other than not being able to upload a 4GB file, although some of our commenters are reporting error messages telling them Google Drive is "not ready" yet. The system, in my limited use so far, seems about as smooth as Dropbox. But Google has plenty of competition—Microsoft just updated SkyDrive and is making a serious push into the market.

While Dropbox has achieved the biggest market share in consumer file sharing, companies like Box and SpiderOak have gained success in the corporate market by focusing on business security requirements.

Google touted its collaboration features in Drive, saying "Google Docs is built right into Google Drive, so you can work with others in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once you choose to share content with others, you can add and reply to comments on anything (PDF, image, video file, etc.) and receive notifications when other people comment on shared items."

Of course, search is a part of Drive as well, and Google promised great improvements.

Users can "search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more," Google Chrome Senior Vice President Sundar Pichai wrote. "Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Let’s say you upload a scanned image of an old newspaper clipping. You can search for a word from the text of the actual article. We also use image recognition so that if you drag and drop photos from your Grand Canyon trip into Drive, you can later search for [grand canyon] and photos of its gorges should pop up. This technology is still in its early stages, and we expect it to get better over time."

So, I use Google services pretty extensively: exclusively for email & calendaring, for voicemail, contact syncing, photo uploading to Google+, and I use an Android phone.

I've also been a Dropbox user for a long time and really love the service.

Can anyone describe the advantages/disadvantages to switching over to Google Drive from Dropbox? The most obvious disadvantage is that 5GB of free storage is less than the ~7.8GB I have on Dropbox (after numerous referrals).

So, I use Google services pretty extensively: exclusively for email & calendaring, for voicemail, contact syncing, photo uploading to Google+, and I use an Android phone.

I've also been a Dropbox user for a long time and really love the service.

Can anyone describe the advantages/disadvantages to switching over to Google Drive from Dropbox? The most obvious disadvantage is that 5GB of free storage is less than the ~7.8GB I have on Dropbox (after numerous referrals).

Yeah, I've got near 11gb after the photo-uploading betas. The GDrive space per month is ridiculously cheap compared to Dropbox, that's their advantage.

While I don't have access to Dropbox's financials, this isn't necessarily feasible. My assumption is that Dropbox is probably already running their margins pretty lean. Google is likely taking a hit in order to provide that extra 50% free capacity (over Dropbox). Google can afford to swallow that loss till Dropbox loses marketshare, Walmart-style.

I don't want the indexed contents of all my documents sitting on Google's side. I would also like to know how frequently previous versions are purged.

I love the concept of an online shared folder, but it seems like SpiderOak is the only one that supports/acknowledges encryption concerns. And unfortunately that's still a bit too un-user friendly for me to generally recommend to non-techies.

Privacy/security is a feature that should also touted by online cloud services...

On the Buy Storage page, the recommend you "Use this page to buy extra space for Google Drive and Picasa." They want $2.49/month for 25GB. You can go directly to Picasa and get 20GB for $5.00 a YEAR! Fine if people need it, but it'd be nice to see some consistency.

Google’s privacy policies explain how we treat your personal data and protect your privacy when you use our Services. By using our Services, you agree that Google can use such data in accordance with our privacy policies.

I’m not seeing any claims that they can use your uploaded content to promote their services though. Or do you mean how they will serve you “relevant search results and ads”. Either way, I don’t trust Google and I won’t be using it.

If you ever had MS SkyDrive, go sign into your account and take advantage of them offering 25GB instead of 7GB as the free option. It only applies for people who had a SkyDrive account prior, and had at least one file on it. I did it last night, and now I don't see why I would use google drive with 5GB when I have 25GB free from MS.

Privacy issues with Google kill it for me. To be honest though I've been happy with my Synology NAS box (not advertising, just an extremely satisfied customer). They've since enabled cloud services in their newest bit of firmware and it works for me. Granted I live in Chattanooga TN where Gigabit fiber is prevalent but I couldn't be happier.

While I don't have access to Dropbox's financials, this isn't necessarily feasible. My assumption is that Dropbox is probably already running their margins pretty lean. Google is likely taking a hit in order to provide that extra 50% free capacity (over Dropbox). Google can afford to swallow that loss till Dropbox loses marketshare, Walmart-style.

I was thinking along the same lines. But instead of selling space at a loss, G is selling it at cost.

Wow, 5 times *less* storage than skydrive. What happened to the Google that completely disrupted the webmail game by eclipsing the storage space offered by the entrenched players?

5GB is 5GB more than you can get on Skydrive while using your Android.

Although I was apparently a genius and paid $5 a year for 20GB for Picasa and I'm locked into that plan now.. wow. I'm pretty psyched about that. It says it's no longer available but they're going to re-up me in a few months.

Skydrive's upload/size limit is 300m per file via web, 2g per file via application. As such, you're both right just not entirely right.

Anyhow, not liking the pricing, but that's just me. But, these things can change. It'll be neat to see a comparison of several cloud services, including which might be best for who. Certainly, as a WP7 owner who uses Windows and Live a lot, Skydrive is ideal for me. However, there's no Dropbox or Google Drive for my WP7, so that's a pity.

Wow, 5 times *less* storage than skydrive. What happened to the Google that completely disrupted the webmail game by eclipsing the storage space offered by the entrenched players?

5GB is 5GB more than you can get on Skydrive while using your Android.

Although I was apparently a genius and paid $5 a year for 20GB for Picasa and I'm locked into that plan now.. wow. I'm pretty psyched about that. It says it's no longer available but they're going to re-up me in a few months.

Now, how can I get the app to do instant upload of photos/videos?

I don't use this, but I would imagine that whatever is offered from picasa is just for photos and maybe videos? Does it support documents and other random types of files in the storage pool?